Drinking-glass or dishwasher with three-sided door movable downwardly into tank to open washing and rinsing compartment

ABSTRACT

A drinking-glass or dish washer with a top hood whose upper surface lies flush with the upper surface of a work counter, the device having a glass- or dish-receiving compartment positioned below the hood and normally closed by a three-sided door. The door can be moved down into the wash water tank to gain access to the drinking glass or dish washing and rinsing compartment rather than raise the door above the hood. In one form of our device the door is counterbalanced and will remain in closed or opened position into which it has been manually moved. In a modified form of the device, an automatic door lock will hold the manually closed door in locked position until the completion of the wash and rinse cycles whereupon the lock will free the door and it will move downwardly into open position automatically.

United States Patent 1111 [72] lnventors Tore H. Noren; 3,141,467 7/1964 Robson 312/312 George J. Federighi, both 01' 1350 Donner 3,190,711 6/1965 Haas 1. 312/312X Ave., San Francisco, Calif. 94124 3,246,938 4/1966 Noren et al 312/223 [21] Appl. No. 852,371 3,472,219 10/1969 Roy et al 312/312 523 Primary ExaminerJames T. McCall v Attorney-William R. Piper [S4] DRINKING-GLASS OR DISHWASHER WITH THREE-SIDED DOOR MOVABLE DOWNWARDLY 3335 A i f INTO TANK TO OPEN WASHING AND RINSING t 6 upper a COMPARTMENT work counter, the device having a glassor dish-receiving 6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs compartment positioned below the hood and normally closed by a three-sided door. The door can be moved down into the [52] US. Cl 312/319, wash water tank to gain access to the drinking glass or dish 2/228, 312/229, 2/312 washing and rinsing compartment rather than raise the door [51 1 III. above the hQ d In one form of our device the door is counter. [50] Field 01' Search 312/312, balanced and will remai in closed or opened position into 319, 320, 228 which it has been manually moved. In a modified form of the device, an automatic door lock will hold the manually closed [56] References C'ted door in locked position until the completion of the wash and UNITED STATES PATENTS rinse cycles whereupon the lock will free the door and it will 8/1962 Meekeret a1 move downwardly into open position automatically.

SHEET 1 BF 4 PATENTEDJUN 1 Ian INVENTORS TORE H. NOREN y GEORGE J. FEDERIGHI WM 7% as ATTORNEY PATENTED JUN 1 IHYI SHEET 2 OF 4 INVENTORS TORE H. NOREN BY GEORGE J. FEDERIGHI ATTOR EY PATENTED JUN 1 I971 SHEET 3 BF 4 l INVENTORS TORE H. NOREN BY GEORGE J. FEDERIGHI ATTORNEJPJ PATENTEU JUN 1.91.

SHEET 4 BF 4 INVENTORS- TORE H. NOREN BY GEORGE J. FEDERIGHI ATTORNEY DRINKING-GLASS OR DISHWASHER WITH THREE- SIDED DOOR MOVABLE DOWNWARDLY INTO TANK TO OPEN WASHING AND RINSING COMPARTMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention At a bar where liquor is dispensed by a bartender, it is desirable to have a drinking-glass washer whose top does not extend above the, upper surface of the counter. It is further desirable to have the door to the wash and .rinse compartment not extend above thetop of the bar when the door is moved into open position. The door is moved downwardly into the wash water tank whenmoving it into open position to give access to the wash and rinse compartment. This will leave the top of the counter clear at all times. The weight of the door is counterbalanced by a weight and so the door will remain in the position into which it has been moved whether opened or closed. A modified form of the device will permit the door to open by gravity after the washing and rinsing cycles.

2. Description of the Prior Art Applicants US. Pat. No. 3,246,938 issued Apr. 19, I966 on a mechanism for-holding dishwashing machine door closed and for raising door, discloses a dishwasher with a wash and rinse compartment that can be closed by a three-sided door. The door is raised when moving it into open position and this would cause the door to extend above the top of a bar counter should the'patented device be used in washingliquor glasses. Such an arrangement would prevent the bar top from remaining clear atall times.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of our invention is to provide a drinking-glass or dishwashingmachine in which the door that normally closes the wash andrinse compartment is moved downwardly into the wash water tank during the manual opening movement of the door. This will keep the counter clear while permitting drinking glasses or dishes to be placed in the wash and rinse compartment or be removed therefrom by the bartender. The door can be counterbalanced so as to remain in either opened or closed position. A modified form of the device makes use of an automatic lock that will hold the door closed during the wash and rinse cycles of the machine and then will release the door to permit it to open by gravity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is an isometric view of the drinking-glass or dishwasher and shows the wash and rinse compartment door in open position.

FIG. 2 isan isometric view of the door.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the wash and rinse compartment with the door removed in order to illustrate the counterweight mechanism for supporting the door. The hood and its supporting back are illustrated.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. I and shows the guides and rollers for permitting vertical movement of the door from closed to open position and vice versa.

FIG. S'is an isometric view of a modified form of drinkingglass washer and illustrates the door for the wash and rinse compartment in open position.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the door used in the modified form, the door being of the same type as that shown in FIG. 2 except that it is provided with a lock-lever-receiving keeper.

FIG. 7 illustrates the counterweight mechanism for the modified form ofdoor and this is the same as that shown in FIG. 3 except the counterweight is lighter in weight than the weight of the door.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged horizontal section taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. -5 and illustrates the guide mechanism for the door.

FIG. 9shows the circled dot-double-dash portion 9 of FIG. Sand illustrates the lock-lever engaging with the door keeper for holding the door in closed position during the washing and rinsing cycles.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In carrying out our invention we will first describe the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 inclusive. The device comprises a tank indicated generally at A and which is adapted to hold wash water that is normally kept at a temperature of about 140 F. The tank is provided with the usual hot water inlet, not shown, and pump, not shown. A power wash temperature gage is shown at l and a final rinse gage is shown at 2 in FIG. 1. Control buttons for the drinking-glass washer are shown at 3 and 4. The tank A has a combined hood support and door guide B that extends upwardly from the rear wall of the tank, see FIGS. 1,3 and 4. A hood C is supported at the upper end of the support B and it extends over the top of the tank A and is spaced thereabove so as to provide an area for receiving a basket of drinking glasses, not shown.

We provide a three-sided door D, shown in the isometric drawing of FIG. 2. This door has a handle 5 by means of which the door can be raised from its open position shown in FIG. I, into a position where it will cooperate with the back B, to enclose the space between the hood and the top of the wash tank A. The three-sided door D has a front panel 6 that is spaced inside of and parallels the front wall 7 of the wash tank A, and it has two side panels 8 and 9 that are spaced inside of and parallel the two sidewalls l0 and II respectively, of the wash tank. FIG. 2 shows the three panels 6, 8 and 9 of the three-sided door D reinforced by an inwardly extending angle iron 12. The door handle 5 extends transversely across the front panel 6 of the door and has its ends supported by brackets 13-13 that in turn are secured to the side panels 8 and 9 of the door. 7

The three-sided door Dis guided in its vertical movement by guide rollers on the door riding on inwardly extending and vertically disposed guide flanges 14-14 that are integral with the hood-supporting back B, see FIGS. l, 3 and 4. Upper brackets 15-15, see FIG. 2, are secured to the door side panels 8 and 9, and rotatably support upper guide rollers 16-16 that ride along the inner surfaces of the flanges 14-14, see the enlarged sectional view of FIG. 4. Each side panel 8 and 9 of the door also supports a pair of middle brackets 17 and a pair of lower brackets 18 that in turn rotatably carry door guide rollers 19 and 20, respectively. These pairs of rollers 19 and 20 ride on the outer surfaces of the flanges l4 and are disposed below the rollers 16-16. This arrangement of guide rollers holds the door D in a vertical position during the closing and opening movements of the door.

Again referring to FIG. 2, it will be noted that a bracing and supporting bar 21 extends transversely across the open back of the three-sided door, and the ends of the bar are bent at right angles and are secured to the inner surfaces of the door side panels 8 and 9. Cables 22-22 have one of their ends connected to the bar 21 and then are passed around pulleys 23-23, see FIG. 3, that are rotatably carried by the inner surface of the hood support B, and they have their other ends connected to a counterweight 24. The weight 24 will hold the door D in any position into which it has been manually moved by the operator by means of the handle 5.

FIG. I shows the wash water tank A provided with an inner basket supporting frame E and a lower glass-washing arm F revolves when wash water is forced therethrough and will direct the wash water against the drinking glasses, not shown, for cleaning them. This structure forms no part of our present invention. It will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3 that a hot water pipe 25 extends upwardly and communicates with a rinse spray arm G that is rotated as the fresh rinse water, heated toabout l F., is sprayed upon the glasses for rinsing the wash water therefrom. The wash and rinse cycles may be manually controlled by the operator pressing the buttons in proper sequence or the glass-washing machine may have an automatic control that will carry through the two cycles in succession when once a starting button is depressed. Again; this phase of the glass-washing machine forms no part of our present invention illustrated in the form of the device shown in FIGS. 1 to4 inclusive.

The drinking-glass or dishwashing machine is designed so that the top of the hood C wiil lie flush with the counter H of a bar where drinks are served, see FIG. 3. The hood-supporting member 8 would form a part of the front of the bar and the bartender would have access to the washing and rinsing compartment of the device from his side of the counter when the three-sided door D is moved downwardly into the wash water tank A by means of the handle 5. After the basket of drinking glasses, not shown, has been placed in the device, the operator raises the door D by means of the handle 5 to close the compartment and then presses the necessary buttons to cause the machine to wash and rinse the glasses. The counterweight 24 will keep the door closed. After the washing and rinsing cycles are completed, the operator lowers the door D into the wash tank to open ihe washing and rinsing compartment and permit the removal of the washed and sterilized drinking glasses.

MODIFlED FORM OF DRINKING GLASS WASHER Our modified form of the drinking-glass-washing machine is similar in many respects to the form of the device just described and, therefore, similar parts will be given iike reference letters and numerals, except that they will be primed. The modified form is illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 8 inclusive and only the new features in this form will be described in detail. The wash water tank A, the hood-supporting back B, the hood C and the three-sided door D are ali the same as in the preferred form of the device. Other parts are likewise similar to the preferred form.

The principal difference lies in providing a device in which the door D will be held in closed position during the successive washing and rinsing cycles and then at the completion of the rinsing cycle, the door will be automatically unlocked and will move into open position and the device will shut itself off and cease operating. The mechanism for accomplishing this includes a solenoid-actuated lock arm J that is shown in unlocked position in FIG. 5 and in locked position in the fragmeritary illusiration of a part of the modified form of the device in FIG. 9. Also, the weight 24' shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, weighs slightly less than the weight of the door D so that when the door is released by the lock arm J, gravity will move the door downwardly into open position to expose the washed, rinsed and sterilized drinking glasses, not shown, and permit them to be removed from the machine.

FIGS. 5, 6, 8 and 9 show the three-sided door D provided with a keeper K that is in the form of an inverted U. The keeper is placed at the upper edge of the side panel 9' of the door. FIG. 9 shows that when the door D is in closed position, i.e., when the door is raised, the lock arm J can be swung clockwise into a locked position and will engage the keeper K and prevent any downward movement of the door into open position. The lock arm J is secured to a rockable shaft 50 that in turn projects from a housing L. The housing is shown mounted on top of the hood C, but it could be mounted on the hood support B so as to be below the top of the hood.

After the soiled drinking glasses, not shown, are placed in the washing and rinsing compartment, the operator may manually raise the door D to close it and then may press one of the starting buttons to cause the machine to go through its washing and rinsing cycles automatically. The starting of the washing operation will energize a soienoid, not shown, for swinging the lock arm in a clockwise direction from the freed position shown in FIG. 5 into the locked position where it engages with the keeper K as shown in FIG. 9. It is possible to have the manual ciosing of the door actuate the starting switch and thus lock the door in closed position.

The door D wiil remain iocked and closed until the washing and rinsing cycles are completed, whereupon the machine will stop operating and the solenoid, not shown, will be deenergize cl andggermit the lock lever J to swin by gravity into open position. ince the weight of the door is greater than the counterbalancing weight 24, the door will move downwardly into open position by gravity. in all other respects the modified form of the device operates the same as the preferred form and no further description is necessary.

The housing L contains a timing mechanism similar to the one described in our US. Pat. No. 3,246,938. Instead of the door-actuated starting switch illustrated in FIG. 10 of the patent, any type of starting switch could be used.

We Claim:

i. A drinking-glass or dish washing machine comprising:

a. a tank for holding wash water;

b. a washing compartment disposed above said tank; and

e. a vertically movable door normally closing said compartment, said door being movable downwardly into said tank for opening the compartment and permitting access thereto for the insertion or removal of drinking glasses and the like.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. said door is counterbalanced by a weight that will hold the door in any position into which it has been manually moved.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. the washing compartment includes a hood for covering the top of the compartment and a support for the hood that extends between the hood and said tank and forms one wall of the compartment; and

b. said door having three sides that cooperate with said hood and the support therefore for forming a closed washing compartment when the door closed.

. The combination as set forth in claim 3: and in which the three-sided door has a front and two side panels; and

. door-guiding means carried by said two side panels and cooperating with guides on said hood support for guiding said door in its movement between closed and open position and vice versa.

The combination as set forth in claim 3: and in which said door has a lock-arm-receiving keeper thereon;

. said hood having a time-controlled means for swinging a lock arm into engagement with said keeper when the door is moved into closed position for keeping said door closed for a predetermined time period; and

c. said time-controlled means swinging said lock arm out of engagement with said keeper for freeing the door at the termination of the time-controlled period.

The combination as set forth in claim 5: and in which a. said weight weighs slightly less than the weight of said door;

b. whereby a freeing of the door by the swinging of the lock arm out of engagement with said keeper will permit the door to open by gravity and move downwardly into open position. 

1. A drinking-glass or dish washing machine comprising: a. a tank for holding wash water; b. a washing compartment disposed above said tank; and c. a vertically movable door normally closing said compartment, said door being movable downwardly into said tank for opening the compartment and permitting access thereto for the insertion or removal of drinking glasses and the like.
 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. said door is counterbalanced by a weight that will hold the door in any position into which it has been manually moved.
 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. the washing compartment includes a hood for covering the top of the compartment and a support for the hood that extends between the hood and said tank and forms one wall of the compartment; and b. said door having three sides that cooperate with said hood and the support therefore for forming a closed washing compartment when the door is closed.
 4. The combination as set forth in claim 3: and in which a. the three-sided door has a front and two side panels; and b. door-guiding means carried by said two side panels and cooperating with guides on said hood support for guiding said door in its movement between closed and open position and vice versa.
 5. The combination as set forth in claim 3: and in which a. said door has a lock-arm-receiving keeper thereon; b. said hood having a time-controlled means for swinging a lock arm into engagement with said keeper when the door is moved into closed position for keeping said door closed for a predetermined time period; and c. Said time-controlled means swinging said lock arm out of engagement with said keeper for freeing the door at the termination of the time-controlled period.
 6. The combination as set forth in claim 5: and in which a. said weight weighs slightly less than the weight of said door; b. whereby a freeing of the door by the swinging of the lock arm out of engagement with said keeper will permit the door to open by gravity and move downwardly into open position. 